Gymnast Tanaka builds on success

YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) Asian Games bronze medalist Rie Tanaka won her first national titles at the all-Japan gymnastics championships on Sunday, winning in the vault and the balance beam.

Tanaka, the new face for Japanese women’s gymnastics, scored 13.837 points on the vault and 14.075 on the beam, following up on her third-place finish in the all-around competition at last month’s games in Guangzhou, China.

“I was nervous, competing back in Japan,” said the 23-year-old Tanaka, who won the award for elegance at the world championships in October. “But the crowd, their support got me through.”